1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method which generates a command to control a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In print processing, normally a user interface provides instructions to start printing, and a spooling system receives a print request and activates a driver program to generate a print command.
This will be described with reference to FIG. 2. A user interface 201 executes various kinds of settings related to printing and gives instructions to start printing. A spooling system 202 receives this data as a print request.
The spooling system 202 activates a driver program 203 to convert the print data received as the print request into a printer command to control a printer 205. The driver program 203 reads out printer component information and PDL information from an attribute file 204 representing the features of the printer 205 and converts the readout information into a printer command suitable for the printer 205.
The driver program 203 sends the generated printer command to the printer 205 to do print processing.
To cause a printer 208 to print, normally the spooling system 202 activates a driver program 206, which is different from the driver program 203. The drive program 206 reads out various kinds of information from an attribute file 207 representing the features of the printer 208, generates a printer command suitable for the printer 208, and sends the command to the printer 208.
However, printer commands interpretable by printers change depending on the printer model. Each printer must have its own driver program. To use another printer, the user must install a new driver program.
A scheme to make different printers share a driver program is also used In this scheme, a device-dependent characteristic is described in an attribute file, and the driver program reads out the device-dependent information from the attribute file. However, if the configuration specifications of a printer command to be interpreted by a printer change, the driver program needs to be corrected. That is, a new driver program must be provided.